Again!

With almost every pool in Charlotte closed, it was a huge treat to join the Williams this afternoon for some September swimming. Their neighborhood pool has the best kids' slide in Charlotte and today was one of those days when everyone kept yelling, "let's go again!"









Looking forward to next summer already!

Go Panthers!

Old Skool Afternoon

Family time at Latta Park!



It was an afternoon of much swinging...including old-skool, underdog action.


A new sheriff's in town....


As I snapped the camera Griff turned his head to eat this random toy that he had just discovered on the ground. Nice.


Taking a spin on the motorcycle...


After the park, we treated ourselves to donuts at the local Greek Fest. Noah is pictured here 'frozen & in shock' at how amazing they taste. Worth e-v-e-r-y calorie!

Into the Groove

We're getting into the groove of our new schedule...early to bed (we aim for 7pm), early to rise (6:30am) and two boys in school every day. Miles is the constant -- and Noah heads to preschool MWF mornings and Griffin goes to our church's playschool T/Th mornings. Its proving to be a great schedule. Everyone is enjoying school and Noah and Griffin love their 'solo-time'.


Miles hopped off the bus (the front seat!) happy everyday. Each day, we walk home and then stop in the garage to enjoy a popsicle, talk about the day, and read his homework book a few times. Today's daily scoop: "I made a friend on the playground today!" I savor these moments with Miles.


Miles drew this picture of himself at school. I love it for a number of reasons: Miles depicted the outfit he was wearing with such detail, the hands he drew are humongous (which seems to be his artistic trademark), he added flecks of green in his eyes (he is dying to have green eyes like his friend Evan), and most importantly -- he has a smile on his face.


Noah's class started talking about Creation this week. His teacher asked each child to tell the class what that they are the most thankful for that God made. She told me that the the first 6 kids said "animals", then the rest mentioned other inanimate objects. When it was Noah's turn he said, "my brother Miles. I love it when he plays with me." Needless to say, hearing this story made me cry. I'm so thankful for my boys!

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Griffin is officially walking! We started gymnastics today and he loved it. He is an active little boy and loves to be outside (from the moment he wakes up). He has a spirit of optimistic determination (practice-practice-practice!) and he flashes us his best accessory -- his smile -- often. It will be a fun year watching his personality bloom!

Happy Birthday, Shannon!

Your laughter is contagious and you have such a zest for life! Enjoy your weekend celebration! We love you, Shannon!!

Boys!

Who Needs Hair Gel?
Me: Noah, can I have one of your french fries?
Noah: Here you go, mom. When you're done eating it, just wipe your hands in your hair.

Remind Me Never To Ride That Bus or
Look What Cool Tricks They Teach You On The Bus
Me: Miles, I put some tissues in the side pocket of your backpack, so that if you ever need to wipe your nose on the bus, you'll have a tissue.
Miles: Mom. I don't need that.
Me: Well, let's just leave them there 'just in case'.
Miles (sounding very upbeat & helpful): No. If I need to wipe my nose I'll use my arm. OR, I could pick out my boogie and then roll it between my hands into a ball and then throw it.

Ain't it the Truth
Me: Noah, please stop crying. You've been in the bathtub for a long time. Its time to get out.
Noah (crying): It's not time yet!
Me (pretend crying): It's not time yet!
Noah (very definitively): Mommy, you can't cry! You can't cry because you don't LOVE to cry the way I LOVE to cry.

More Holiday Fun

I love family friends and we spent tonight with two of our favorites -- the Hulls and the Williams. We can't help but have fun when we're together. As we left the Hull's house tonight, Noah said, "mommy, next time, can I bring my toothbrush and sleeping bag so that I can just sleep here?"




The kids lined up after I invited them to "join the batman club!" (Idea lifted from Uncle Jason. I use it regularly.) One of these days the kids are going to demand that something actually takes place in this club.



Miles and Griffin LOVED playing baseball. (Noah was too busy playing with the ninja turtle toys inside to be bothered.) Miles, the perfectionist, initially opted not to play. After several practice swings, he was able to hit the ball. He was ecstatic and yelled, "I did it! I'm good at this game!" Griffin kept Mike busy -- at 15 months he's already a sports fanatic.


Hayden running the bases. He has an amazing swing!


Cutie, Ryan. Aka Mr Social.


Could Noah's smile be any wider? We took about 15 family pictures (thanks, Trish!) trying to get a good one. The only constant: Noah's awesome smile!


These silly boys told ridiculous jokes to each other over dinner (Ella was far from impressed).


But she did enjoy her share of brownies (as did we all!). Yum, Trish!

Enjoying the Long Weekend!

Good neighbors, good food, good fun. Gotta love it!

Male DNA = Big TV?

Given Miles' new crack-of-dawn schedule, Noah was ready for preschool 90 minutes early. In between slurps of his cereal milk we had this conversation:

• Me: Hey Noah. You're ready for school really early today. Maybe you can watch one show before school.
• Noah: Mom! I want to watch Monsters' Inc!
• Me: No, honey. That's a movie. We can watch that on a long trip - like in the car on the way to the zoo.
• Noah <in an appalled and informative tone of voice>: Mom! You can't watch Monsters' Inc on a tiny screen! You HAVE to watch it on a BIG TV!

This, from a 3-year-old. Good grief.

The Bus!

I woke Miles up at 6:20am today. It was brutal. He's usually a morning person, but today he just wanted to snuggle in bed. We stumbled through our morning routine until we heard banging on the door at 6:45am. Our neighbor, Evan, was yelling through the storm door "the bus is coming! the bus is coming!"


Needless to say, we jumped up from the table and dashed outside. (Miles started screaming, "I need a hug! I need a hug!" in a half-nervous/half-excited voice --- as if he was expected to head to the bus stop himself.) Once at the end of the street we learned that our bus wasn't coming, but then realized that Miles had yet to go to the bathroom. I looked around and then instructed Miles to "pee in the pine straw like Bodie". I know, I know....but Miles thought it was really funny!



The boys had fun checking out each others' backpacks and being silly at the bus stop. Don't they look sleepy?


Once the bus arrived it literally gulped them up...this driver had a schedule to keep! I'm not even sure if the boys had time to take off their backpacks before she was on to the next stop. Miles later told me that riding the bus in the morning was "fun".


The afterschool ride was a different story. The bus filled up with big kids (4th & 5th graders) before the kindergarteners got on, so Miles was left to fend for himself and take a seat in the back. The poor guy was a wreck when he arrived home. Miles didn't recognize anyone until the end of the bus ride (Evan went to aftercare on a different bus). The first thing he said was, "a big kid sat with me for awhile, then he got off and I was sitting all alone." It was hard to tell which part was more devastating.

Needless to say, I called the Transportation Department to request that our bus driver abide by the unofficial rule to place kindgergarteners in the front. The lady I spoke to was amazing and said that she would contact the driver personally and then call me back to relay the conversation. She also asked me to call her back on Tuesday with a debrief of Miles' experience. Impressive -- I hope it works!

A Very Good Day!

Miles came home from school happy and seemed to really enjoy his first day. He shared a few pieces of information (e.g., 2 kids bought lunch, he learned how to log-in & log-out of the computer, kindergarten classrooms have bathrooms attached, etc...) and it took all afternoon/evening to get those nuggets. Alas, we just may be in dark about the majority of his life from this point forward...unless, by chance, he dates a chatty girl someday who spills the beans on his intriguing life. (There's hope!)




Noah's teacher pulled me aside today to tell me that she is astonished by his fine motor skills. She's amazed daily by his artwork and said that she's really impressed by how well he listens and follows directions. Maybe he's peaking at age 3?....or, maybe he'll be a surgeon one day -- that is if he gets over his insane clumsiness. I wouldn't want him randomly falling to the floor during the middle of a procedure!



Griffin and I hung out in a strangely quiet house this morning. We ate comfort food for lunch (I made homemade chicken and vegetable soup!) and Griffin walked around with the boys' old lunch boxes in hand. It was as if he was showing me that he's ready for school too!

Miles has Entered the Building!

Miles started his first day of kindergarten today amidst torrential rainfall (brought on by the remnants of Tropical Storm Fay), terrible flooding (some of the worst in decades across Charlotte), and an uprooted tree blocking the usual entrance to his school. We were a few minutes late - but we made it!



Miles woke up and said, "mommy, my whole body feels funny." He agreed that it felt like 'little butterflies' were in his tummy and I told him that I felt the same way on my first day of school. He decided to wear his school t-shirt and he completed the look with a humongous egg on his forehead (courtesy of so much fun playing in jumpy castles with his brothers and Ella & Jack yesterday).

The kindergarteners are staggered the first week, so today he's in class with 4 other boys. His second day will be Friday. The entire class will be there and he'll be riding the bus. Big week!

The Kindergarten Countdown is On!

Its hard to believe that in 12 short hours Miles will start his first kindergarten class. Wow! He is feeling nervous -- but we know that Miles will make friends quickly and will have so much fun. Tonight he said that he is most excited about 'wearing his new ninja turtle backpack' and 'drawing things' at school. He's also looking forward to riding the bus on Friday (he wants to wait until his 2nd day of school to tackle this one!).

I anticipated being so sad tonight. Instead, some verses popped into my head and I feel such assurance that the time is right. Jeremiah 29: 11-13 For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.

Here we go!